Small town students band together for Ella 7s debut

On the opening day of the KARI Ella 7s in Dubbo, however, that's exactly what happened.

Children from Geurie Pubic School, Stuart Town Public School and Eumungerie Public School almost missed out on getting to play in the juniors fixture, until a push from the school's principals put together a combined team for Thursday's games.

READ ALSO:

Eumungerie Public School principal Shelley Darcy, said kids from smaller towns don't always get the chance to participate when big programs come to town.

"We've brought all the kids together from Geurie, Stuart Town and Eumungerie and arranged for them all to travel here together," Darcy said.

"Our kids don't really get a great deal of opportunity when it comes to sporting competitions because of the relative size of our schools."

"But when I saw that the Ella 7s were going to run this junior day, I thought it was such a good avenue for young kids in the bush, we just had to jump on board."

The day of round robin games was also a gift for the three town's Indigenous students, who are often too far out of reach for many of the programs that visit the Central West.

"It's something our Indigenous kids identify with, so that was a huge draw card for us as well, but more than that, just being able to combine with the Stuart Town and Geurie children, it gives us a real sense of community and connection for us in that small school network," Darcy said.

"It's a real opportunity that these don't normally get and having it being within reach in Dubbo, it was just too good to pass up."

That opportunity afforded a lot of the kids who travelled a chance to play their first real games of contact support, something that Darcy is grateful for.

"This is the first time for a lot of them with contact sports, so we've had a few of the more talented, experienced kids from around the region, they've been helping out a lot with our very new players and there's a real sense of sportsmanship and camaraderie, which has been fantastic," Darcy said.

"We saw a lot of really big changes for them even just in between the first and second game they played, all thanks to them helping each other out, which is great because they've only been together once to have a quick training run."

Darcy, who is no stranger to Apex Oval as the mother of Goannas and Dubbo CYMS star Majayda Darcy, also got a chance to see one of her daughters take to the field as part of the competition's high school segment.

"It's really exciting for us with all our connections to rugby league to get to cross codes, she had to jump ship and go with Coonamble High School in order to get a run, but she was really excited," Darcy said.

It's another sign of the strengthening influence of the sport for women in the Central West, something that Darcy's eager to see her students embrace.

"I love the fact that there's now so many opportunities for the girls, getting to watch them get involved and play out here is the best, there's not always a lot of chances for the girls, especially at this age, to get involved in union or league," Darcy said.

"For the girls to actually get out here and get to play some contact sport, it's just and they absolutely love it."